In Business for Yourself but Not by Yourself, Agents Find The Support With Anchor Benefit Advisors

Hiring Unlicensed Agents in 1989

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)

Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories Podcast, where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome adversity. As you listen today, let one idea shape what you do next. My name is Anthony Codispoti, and today's guest is licensed to sell health, life, and accident insurance in all 50 states. He first passed the licensing exam at age 20, nearly 45 years ago.

And he has held senior roles in the industry ever since. He started in 1982 selling health and life insurance at kitchen tables in Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana. He turned three money-losing lead generation call centers profitable, then helped build an agency that wrote its first policy in 1989 and $400 million in new business in 2003. He also spent two years with the Zig Ziglar organization.

David Keeler works with Anchor Benefit Advisors, a Montgomery, Alabama agency that helps families and small businesses nationwide find health, Medicare, supplemental, and life coverage. The company is a little over a year old and actively looking for sales leaders in 10 to 20 markets.

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Dave (02:43)

Hey, it's a pleasure, Anthony. Thanks for having me again.

Anthony Codispoti (02:46)

So, Dave, in March of 1989, you were tapped to start a new insurance agency inside the company that you were already working for. Somewhere between 90 and 95% of the agents that you recruited never held an insurance license before. These are folks that ranged from college professors to high school dropouts. It feels from the outside like

like a very non-conventional approach. Tell us what your thinking was. What was the hiring strategy back then?

Dave (03:17)

Well well back at that time, it was very common to we saw ourselves as being in the life changing business, right? So as you mentioned, it could have been somebody that had some downsizing going on or some divorce or maybe some d dependency issues, different things where people were at crossroads in their lives where they were looking to get from wherever it is they were to where it is they wanted to go. So we were a catalyst for helping people do that. And while I always say we were we have always been in the people business.

And the insurance solutions, many like that you talked at the front end here, are things that we did for people, right? But the people that we focused on as being our primary customer was that agent and their spouse. And the fact that at that time uh so many of them came unlicensed to the industry was a blessing. And I think the one caveat obviously was people had to answer the question to themselves: can I work for myself? Can I have that motivation, that self-discipline? Can I get out there and put in a full week's worth of work?

So I can reap the rewards of uh the investments that they're making with their time and efforts. So it's been a it's been a wonderful journey over the course of decades to see people's lives literally change because you're able to offer them a platform for success that they weren't accustomed to, they weren't used to. And we always like to say we're we're not here, you know, it's you're in business for yourself, but not by yourself. So we provide the programs, the platforms, the templates.

a lot of advice on what not to do, a lot of advice on things you might consider doing. But at the end of the day, um, if the infrastructure is there so you can spend 80% of your time or more on selling and serving solutions to the American consumers out there across the country coast to coast, then we try to make it a little bit easier for those individuals to focus on that sales and solution side while we focus on the infrastructure side of helping helping them maintain and run their businesses.

Anthony Codispoti (05:11)

So you're not leaving them out on an island. You're in business for yourself, but not by yourself. And the really interesting thing that you said is that you saw the primary client really as being the agent and the spouse, not the

Dave (05:24)

Correct.

Anthony Codispoti (05:25)

person who's actually ultimately being sold the insurance.

Dave (05:28)

Yeah, if you if you really serve the agent and their spouse well, then that service-oriented leadership, if you will, automatically transfers to the marketplace consumers that are considering solutions with that insured uh advisor and their and their spouses and their families. So I would I would like to also share with you there was a period in time, not in the organizations that I and we were a part of, but there was a mentality out there, Anthony, and it still exists to some regards today when it comes to

re the recruitment of unlicensed uh advisors or licensed advisors. There there are some organizations out there without being disparaging that do take the mindset of some will, some won't, so what next? And they just want to play the numbers game of, you know, bring them in and see who can

Anthony Codispoti (06:12)

Turn and burn.

Dave (06:13)

churn and burn, see who can write a deal here, deal there. uh and at the end of the day, if you roll it all up, it it it looks like a nice number.

We being anchor benefit advisors absolutely do not subscribe to that formula. We are all about what looking for those connect connections and the connectivity, whether it's an agent level individual or whether it's somebody that wants to be an area sales leader in of the ten to twenty markets that you briefly mentioned. You know, we are looking for people that are looking for a home that want to really be business partners together and it serves both sides equally well.

Appointment Inventory

Anthony Codispoti (06:45)

You mentioned that, you know, part of what you do is you explain to folks some things that they don't want to do, as well as some things that they may want to do. What are a couple of those big ones you tell them not to do as they're getting started?

Dave (06:58)

Well, the I think the biggest one for everybody to consider, because we all start at different places and different skill sets, but the one common thread that's always there is you have to look at your appointments as your inventory. So when you're new and you're getting started, or if you're even a seasoned uh individual,

It what is your appointment inventory? And if you need to, if you need to provide five solutions a week to serve the public and also to hit the income needs that you're looking for, both in upfront cash as well as residual income, then if if five is the result, you know, how what how many appointments do we have to run to get this five, right? So uh, and that varies from individual to individual. So one of the roles that we like to play is, well, do you need to have 20 appointments to start out to have that closing ratio of 25%?

So you can hit your five. And as you become more versed and comfortable and established and all the things that come with just good work ethic and time, then maybe you maybe your appointment inventory on a given week can go down to 15 because your closing ratio has gone up. Not only with your efforts, but with the efforts that an organization like Anchor can provide to them. So we make it again easier for them to go out there and sell and serve the marketplaces. So it makes it easier for them to hit their income goals and their long-term wealth strategies.

Growing to $400M in Sales

Anthony Codispoti (08:14)

So this agency that we're talking about, you were tapped to start back in nineteen eighty-nine, it wrote its first policy in July of that year, eighty-nine,

Dave (08:21)

Correct. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (08:22)

did about five million dollars in annualized sales that first year, which is phenomenal for an agency today, back then, is even more impressive. And then by two thousand three, it wrote four hundred million dollars in new business. I think as people listen to that kind of

growth trajectory story, we're always curious to know, how did you do it? What are the big growth levers that you pull?

Dave (08:47)

Well th

there was no I in it. It was it was a total we. And there was a lot of individuals that contributed to it b both from an internal leadership perspective, but also boots on the ground out there, you know, again, selling and serving and creating solutions for the American consumers. But um and I I've always been the utopian guy in the room. So this answer is uh one of my standard ones. But again, it goes back to us focusing on the agent, their spouses, and their family. So when we did that.

And we really stayed true to it. So we didn't take the mentality of some will, some won't. So what next? Then that really became a a catalyst in itself for people to sit back and go, Hey, there's something special about this organization. And you're at a crossroads in your pr pr professional life or your personal life, perhaps both. Why don't you take a look at it and see if it might be a good fit for you?

And your family. So we had a lot of that word of mouth. Hey, I want to be part of that too. You know, this is amazing. I want to get in on the ground floor. So a lot of the things that we talked about in this period of time that you're mentioning are echoed and mirrored in what we're currently doing with the anchor benefit advisors group as well. So it's a very much early on, let's bootstrap, let's get to work, let's build a culture, a performance-based culture and organization.

where everybody wins. Everything's always in balance. So it's not it doesn't lean all the way to the company side. It doesn't lean all the way to the marketplace consumer side. There's that balance or that that bubble in between the two black lines on a level where you keep everything in balance and you look at it on a day-to-day basis to say, do we need to do a little bit more here to make a little bit more over you know to get a little bit more gain over here? And it's a constant evaluation of what needs to be done to grow the organizations in a quality base

compliant based integrity driven uh regulatory approach

Anthony Codispoti (10:32)

How were you finding agents back then, or how were they finding you?

Dave (10:36)

Uh we had all that's one thing about this industry as a whole, I for me, is that there's there's no one perfect way, right? So I I think you have to be open to all the different channels, whether it be things we know today as job boards and things that have been out there for a couple of decades, or you know, the best the best um uh in my mind would be referral sources, you know, just people that have heard about it and they want to be a part of it. But again, going back to the statement we talked about just a little bit ago.

When you truly don't have the mindset of some will, some won't, so what next, then you kind of build your infrastructure around that. And you, you, you, and I'll talk about this more as we speak today. But whether it's the recruitment of the individual or the training of the individual or the placement in the sales force of the individual, you want to do it all in a manner that is just the high road, just taking the high road and treating people the way that you'd want to be treated if it was you and your family. And you know, the golden rule is still the best rule.

Working with Zig Ziglar

Anthony Codispoti (11:33)

I want to talk more about what you're doing at Anchor Benefit Advisors today. We've already kind of alluded to it and how there's been a lot of carryover from some of those early philosophies to today. But first I want to take just a little bit of a sidestep because I want to talk about your time with Zig Ziglar. So you guys were both living in Dallas, but you first met in St. Louis in May of 2002. A couple of years later, you retired from the insurance company you'd been with since 82. And

You end up becoming executive vice president of business development for Zig Ziglar at his sales training and personal development company. Talk to me about how that transition unfolded and the work that you were doing there.

Dave (12:14)

be happy to. Yeah, we've met by chance in uh a hotel having breakfast in Clayton, Missouri, right outside St. Louis. And Zig was there with some clients of his and myself and some other folks were do on a business trip um focusing on what we were focusing on. So we just said a general hello. It was nice to meet you, very, very gracious, very, very welcoming uh

He was just the one of the kindest individuals you'd ever meet in your life. And so it it it just put a little thing in my head that, hey, when we get off this business trip, we were on a month-long business trip after the events of 9-11, supporting our sales force with a an a month-long bus tour across the United States called the Hope Tour, honoring opportunity, prosperity, and excellence. So we were in the middle of the Hope Tour.

And we were going from St. Louis to Denver. So um just making that note of, hey, you know, I'd really like to find more out about Zig and his organization when we got back. So when we got back at the end of May of that year, uh a couple months go by, and I reached out to his organization and we got connected, and that and that could be a podcast in itself, Anthony. that's a long story, but we were able to connect with his organization, then with us. One of the things I first recognized about not just him, but his organization was

they were cons they were more consistent offstage than they were on. So a lot of times when you see motivational speakers talk and deliver messages, they're there to fire up the crowd and all those things are good and important. But they weren't necessarily the same individuals offstage that they portrayed themselves as being on stage. Well, Zig and his team, the absolute opposite. And so the more I got to know them, be involved in the team of individuals that was work

that I was working with that was part of our overall organization, the more we got to know their organization, the more synergies we had, the more work we were able to do together. And it really took our organization c completely, particularly after 9-11 and the events after 9-11, we were at a stage in our organization and growth wise where the growth was phenomenal, but we wanted to get better and we wanted to be better about how we did it. So that time with him, uh, and ultimately being a part of his team and sharing the stage with him and things that,

I'm just proud to say that I I did. It wasn't not scripted in my life plan or it wasn't on a vision board or anything like that. This was just one of those good things that was a God thing in my mind. So the time we had together and Tom and I, his son are still great friends and and we do things together occasionally. It's it's a part of my life and it'll be there forever. And and forget about me. It it touched the lives of so many other people that were involved in our efforts. That's where I think the real difference was made was with the masses of people, not just a few of us.

Anthony Codispoti (14:50)

Can you give us a specific example of something that you learned while you were there that you continue to use today?

Dave (14:57)

absolutely. And it would be that it's it's perfectly fine to be a person of significant wealth as long as you're being a person that is a wealth of significance along the way. So he and Zig would ask you that. Hey, Anthony, I hear you've done really well. You've done some great things, made a lot of money. Yes, I have. What have you done of significance?

And I'll tell you if if you don't think that won't cause you to stop and think about what you're doing or what you've done or what you need to do, it absolutely would. So he would ask he would ask that question a lot. So of the many things that resonated with us, that one is probably at the top of the list for me, along with his signature statement, you can have everything in life you want if you'll just help another enough other people get what they want.

Anthony Codispoti (15:40)

Say more about that significance piece. What does or can that look like?

Dave (15:45)

Well, I think it's for me, it's and this is something I I wrote down just a few notes for our call today, and I was one of them was people plus performance equals profits. So for me, uh, and we can touch on that a little bit later if you'd like to, but for me, that was what he was saying is that it's perfectly fine to be a an individual that has significant wealth, but how did you go about

Earning it, or how'd you go about building it? And w how how did you help others and touch others' lives along the ways? All these things that, you know, um are so important, so critically important from a spiritual and inspirational standpoint. I just think it was a statement that he made that just caused you to go, whoa, you know, I I have done well, I've been blessed, I've made some great money, done cars and all whatever it is that your thing is, but what have I done of significance along the way to help other people?

I said this earlier, to help other people get from wherever it is they are to where it is they would like to go.

Anthony Codispoti (16:39)

So we're not necessarily talking about philanthropy, we're talking about helping others to get from where they are to where they want to be.

Dave (16:47)

Servant leadership, absolutely.

Anthony Codispoti (16:49)

like that. Okay, so um

yeah let's tap let's talk about anchor because you started working with them at the beginning of this year, twenty twenty six. Tell us, give us kind of the soundbite here. What does Anchor do and who do you do it for?

What Anchor Benefit Advisors Does

Dave (17:04)

Okay, well, and if I babble too long on my answer here, give me a sign, okay, because I'm very passionate about these guys. Uh, some of their key individuals in this organization I've known for quite some time. Some I've just met over the course of the last year. The capital partners are wonderful individuals that have a track record of their own that uh stands on its own and they could be extremely proud of. But the thing about Anchor that I like the most at this stage of the game, and again, it's early for them.

And so being a part of that and that initial, well, listen, we gotta get up, we gotta go, we gotta grow, we gotta change people's lives, we gotta make things happen. we want to we wanna be profitable, you know, all these things are important. Um, I like that with the freshness and the newness of what Anchor Benefit Advisors is doing. So they're based in Montgomery, Alabama. They have a nationwide footprint with like 47, 48 states. Um, they sell in all areas of the health and life space. So they're under 65, over 65. uh

Group business, uh, Medicare, like as I mentioned, you know, so they're not just a one-trick pony with their products. They have solutions that are out there for almost everybody that we can handle. Some of the things you discussed on the early end of the calls are some spaces that we're in as well. But I think it's very, very new and it's very, very energized time with this organization. So um the in one of the key individuals in the organization that is a benefit of mine for a while, uh brought this opportunity to the table.

And the capital partners like the idea of getting in this space in addition to the space that they're already in. And so it's been a great opportunity to, you know, as we talked a little bit earlier, to say, here's some things that we know really, really work when you build these performance-based cultures and organizations. Uh, here's some things that you might want to stay away from or or or or not consider doing because you don't want to, you know, what's the funny saying is what we lose per.

What we lose per sale, we make up in volume, right? It's like, you know, you want you wanna do be as prudent and as as reliable and and accurate as you can be along the the growth road. So it's been a lot of fun being a part of that and seeing um where they're at, but more importantly where they're going. But one of the key elements in my mind is that they are one of the few agencies that I'm aware of. and there's some great ones out there.

There's some out there you absolutely want to stay away from. And you know, just putting it right out there, honestly. the thing I love about what Anchor's doing is they're committed to relational selling. So it's not call center environments where it's churn and burn and people don't understand what they're purchasing. Um, this organization from the recruitment of new individuals in the organization through the training and development, which we'll probably talk on a little bit more. Um, they do they do the heavy lifting on these areas.

So that when people do get placed into the Salesforce environment in Phoenix, Arizona, or Charlotte, North Carolina, wherever it may be, that everybody's gone down the same path of experience in terms of being onboarded, trained, educated. And then, you know, there are some specific things that, you know, we needed we need to do some training that's specific to North Carolina that may be different to Arizona. But that actually ends up becoming very minimal because, you know, everything else has been so

common thread approach, if you will. So absolutely great organization, um looking for great leaders uh like everybody else, and that's something that uh we're we're committed to doing.

Training and Support at Anchor

Anthony Codispoti (20:24)

So I want to talk a little bit more about the support that you guys offer. Because it's a, you know, it's an eat what you kill. It's a performance basis kind of a model. But as you said earlier on, you know, you're in business for yourself, but not by yourself. So talk to me more about that infrastructure, that support, that training that agents get when they come to work with Anchor rather than going somewhere else or trying this on their own.

Dave (20:53)

Right. And whether it be somebody new to the industry or somebody that's had a little bit of experience or somebody's had a lot of experience, one of the things that Anchor does is that on the recruitment side, we do all of the heavy lifting on the recruitment of individuals or leaders into the organization. So yeah, obviously if somebody approaches us, we're gonna visit with and talk to them, see if it's a possibly a good fit, all those things that anybody would do uh from a good prudent business perspective.

But when it comes to the training and development aspect, the capital partners are very, very in a very prudent and exciting way, very adamant that people need to be trained properly before they get placed out into the Salesforce, if you will, so that they can you know, they can go out and sell and serve the American consumers in a very high-road, compliant, regulatory uh manner. So a lot of the things, again, not saying that one is so much better than the other, but with Anchor, the focus is so

genuine and is so grand on the fact that these things are gonna have to happen. And one of the things that people have to do uh currently with Anchor when they're going through the training and development piece is they have to have 10 sales under their belt before they're actually put out into the marketplace. So that's part of the training platform. So that we don't put people out there that have made two sales and just let them kind of splash around out in the pool and maybe they make it, maybe they don't. So these things while we're doing them for the agent that's coming on board

We're also doing it for the sales leaders that oversee and run the country for us because we don't want to burden them the best we can with putting people in the in their teams or their territories or organizations that are non-performers. Right. So, and it can it comes back to that thing I said earlier about when they look in the mirror, can they answer this question honestly? Yes, I can work for myself. So we like to make that a little bit easier for them to do.

Anthony Codispoti (22:40)

So that training, that support is a really big part of this. And making sure that they have 10 sales before you kind of let them spread their wings and go out into the world sounds like a really smart strategy. Talk to me about how you help them get there and how long it typically takes somebody to get to that 10 sale.

Dave (22:58)

There's a structured uh a very structured format on the training.

of week one, week two, week three, week four, et cetera, of the things that they're trained on, the things that they're orientated to, and the things that are exposed to so that they can be successful. and they don't go just go through a standard four-week program. This is it. Uh Anthony completed the four weeks, so he's automatically in. Uh Anthony, go grab 10 sales of your of your friends at church and and we'll we'll we'll make it all work. It's really about that high touch. Let's help them through the process. And frankly in the industry, I of all the

Decades been around and seen things, and we've done some really neat things over the course of time, and so have a lot of other people. I have not seen this particular approach be taken, and therefore I think it's a great approach for this organization. There, they you know, with no disrespect to brands, they want to be a Ritz Carlton, right? They don't want to be a La Quinta. There's nothing wrong with La Quintas, but they just want to be a Ritz-Carlton. And so I think that that's approach and that um, you know, that.

strong confirmation of this is what we're going to do and this is how we're going to do it. I think it allows the team to be better because we know kind of what our collective boundaries are in terms of what we want to do and how we we want to go about doing it. And then it allows us to focus on excelling within those rails, if you will, so that we can grow the organization with like minded people.

Anthony Codispoti (24:18)

So we mentioned in the intro your career started in rooms that were generating leads for field agents. I but I in listening to you now, it sounds like with Anchor, the approach is you go get your own leads, right? You go and network on your own and and bring in your business.

Dave (24:35)

Well, there's a document that we train on called the ABCs, and it's literally is is A B A through Z of marketing and development ideas that we educate people on. So company sponsored leads are one or two spokes of that wheel. So you know, for people that are looking at this, you know, we're not anti providing leads to individuals. We need to make sure that those individuals perform with those leads. But one of the things we do as and I always like to refer to it as not committing the sin of the desert.

Where you know where the water is, but you don't share it with people. So we take all these years of experience of of great people on our team, of things that work to generate personally developed leads. Uh, it could be being part of networking groups in their local communities, it could be company sponsored leads, it can be you know, all uh networking events, all kinds of different things that they can do.

But what we try to do is share all these things that we've learned over the course of time with individuals. And then we'll even go down and say, well, you know, Anthony, with your personality, you might really enjoy doing one, two, and three, probably not four, five, and six, but maybe seven, eight, and nine, you know? And so that we try to fit some of these marketing activities and personally develop lead activities that fits your personality and fits your style so that you're comfortable. And circling back again, if we know up front.

Hey Anthony, you have to have um twenty appointments a week in your inventory, week after week after week as you get started to hit your uh income goals. Then this is a way to provide it to them, as opposed to just coming in and saying, Here's a script, here's a phone book, start smiling and dialing and see what you can get. You know, it's it's just not the approach that we take and it's not the approach that we will ever take in my mind. It's really about

Here's all this knowledge. Here's all these resources. Here's all these examples of things that we know work. And let's find that, let's find the four, five, or six that fit your personality so you get excited on Sunday night about what's going to happen on Monday morning instead of laying in bed on Sunday night going, what's going to happen tomorrow morning? You know. So we're trying to equip people with the, with the comfort and the education to make sure they can excel.

Diagnosis Before Prescription

Anthony Codispoti (26:36)

You know, and I know from previous conversations, Dave, that, you know, a big part of your approach is you've got to understand the end client, in this case, the person who's buying the insurance, the person that you're helping. You have to understand their needs, their situations, their wants before you can start trying to suggest things to them, which means listening. It means asking good questions. What's a question that you coach salespeople to

introduce into their process that helps them listen better, that helps them get to the root of what that person wants.

Dave (27:12)

Well, I I I believe I shared this with you previously, but we try to really engage our advisors, if you will, to take the approach of a prescription without proper diagnosis is malpractice in any profession. So when they start working with a a client or an individual or a suspect, a prospect, whatever it may be at that stage, the first thing that we want to do is help them understand are we

is your needs w w what is your budget requirement? What is your benefit desire? How do we find the balance in those two so that we can build the most comprehensive solution for them? Whether it be um an ACA plan that's a you know federally um marketplace plan or whether it's a a a solution that's outside of that. Is it somebody that just needs coverage for 60 days while they're waiting for their group coverage to kick in. There's all these different scenarios that people have that are real.

And our role is to find out and sit down with you and your family and sit back, what is the realities of your situation? And then I'll go back to Ziglar's school of sales 101. Sales is something you do for someone, not to someone. So when we do that proper analysis and we do the listing and the needs analysis and all the things that are, I would say, common threads in the industry or should be for sure, the thing that we want the outcome to be is the solution that best fits what your situation is.

at a budget that we can help you maintain or hit. And and that's the that's the balancing act, quite frankly. If a lot of people want to have a Ferrari uh product and they don't they only have a Chevrolet budget, you know. And so we have to work with them on like, you know, you have to find that right solution where at the end of the day, if they're going to make an investment of $500 a month, whatever it might be, we want to make sure that we give them the best solutions for that investment that we possibly can.

Anthony Codispoti (28:57)

You mentioned a a formula earlier on. You said, Hey, we might come back to this and I think it's a good time for it. People plus performance equals profits. Tell me about what that means to you.

Dave (29:06)

It it's just one of my takeaways over the course of time is you really think about it, it is like those three words, you know, people plus performance equal profits. It doesn't work in any other scenario. You can't say profit plus performance equals people, right? And you can't say, you know, people profits equal performance. You know, so it's to me, it's it's just the natural progression of how win wins are created and and when you focus on the individuals and their families and they perform.

as partners. So no they're not like we s like you said earlier, they're not on an island, but those people provide the right performance for themselves and the families. It aggregates up to the organization as well as the individuals that are part of it. And it creates the profits and the life changing things that can happen for people because that's been the mantra. Those three words I think for me anyway, those always resonate on here's the right path to create for it's a win-win short term, long term.

And when we were talking about the training a little bit, if somebody wants to be part of this organization and they get all excited and they're all ready to go, and I'm just the best decision I've ever made, but then they don't show up for themselves, right? And the training process or or even after that, if they don't show up for themselves, then they're not doing themselves or their families any favors or any good. And they're certainly not doing the organization any any favors or any good because the it's out of balance. So I think again, I don't want to overstate it, but

With the culture here that's being built, you know, that's a good that's probably a great place to pause. This is a culture that's being built. It's not a culture that is fully built. It'll always be changing, it'll always be evolving, it'll always be growing growing. Always

Anthony Codispoti (30:42)

Well always a work in process.

Dave (30:44)

a work in process. So I think that it's really critical that um, you know, everybody does their part. And when everybody does their part, that's when everybody wins. So for me, uh people plus performance equals profits.

Anthony Codispoti (30:57)

So as we're winding down twenty twenty six and heading into twenty twenty seven, Anchor is looking for area sales leaders in ten to twenty markets. I know some of them are Tampa Bay, Orlando, Charlotte, Phoenix. Can feel free to rattle off some others. But tell us what an area sales leader does on a day-to-day basis. What is their role?

Dave (31:20)

Well, I d as it relates to the markets that we desire, I'd say we're nation we we have a desire nationwide. So even though we might sit back and look talk about some of the obvious markets that you just mentioned, and there's others such as Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, you know, so many, uh, we're really looking for the right individuals in those um cities and in those areas that can be a a a genuine extension of the brand, the anchor brand. And I haven't mentioned this to you prior, but I one of the things I really

I'm very proud with the Anchor Group is that they take the brand management of their organization probably as good as anybody I've ever seen. I mean, they are they're adamant about the brand, the management of the brand, things that are connected to the brand. And so all those things are important. So coming back to your question, the area sales leader, uh the the the perfect f fit for a somebody and is somebody that's out there that

can be a great extension of all these principles that we've talked about so far on the on the podcast today. So they can be an extension of what our recruitment processes are, what the training platforms are, the performance requirements of the organization. So it's a win-win for both sides, all those things. So it it there is no, I wish there was a cookie cut answer to say, well, this is the right person, male or female, that would be the best fit for anchor. And I'm telling you, it could be so many different people out there.

But the thing that needs to happen to make it work is that connectivity and that extension of the brand and the philosophies and the protocols and all the things that are so critically important on keeping that

brand common, right? And and reputable, incredible, uh, it would be those individuals.

So as we're filming this, we're v very much at the early um onset of the uh AEP open enrollment season for over 65 Medicare folks and then right uh with that comes the um nationwide ACA open enrollment. So a lot of people take the approach uh you know that hey well it's selling season and we're not gonna be talking about recruiting or training or doing anything. We're just gonna be we're just gonna

to be nose down, sell, sell, sell, sell, sell. And there's certainly a lot of truth to that. There's a lot of people out there across the country that need new solutions, new solution, new solutions from what they currently have, or there's something's changing and they and they need to update where they're at. Their doctor's not in the network anymore. There's all these things that happen that are just real. We believe that this is a perfect time to talk about

Hey, what's life gonna look for you after open enrollment? And let's have a conversation. It may not be a good fit for you. It may not be a good fit for us. But instead of just turning the lights off for the next three months, let's let's get our message out there and let's connect with people and let's let's start building a pipeline just like our our inventory. You know, what's our required inventory? Let's get all that moving and going now so that as we wind down open enrollment seasons and even during the open enrollment seasons, we can be having conversations with folks.

that may be a good fit for this organization and the organization may be a good fit for them. So we do not, I definitely do not as an individual subscribe to the fact of, hey, let's just shut off the conversations on growing the organization with new talent until after the selling season. I mean, I've just never understood it. And I I probably say it too often on our inner team calls and and things that we discuss, but like you really only get 52 at bats a year, whether it's selling, recruiting, training, whatever it may be, why would you want to be on the bench?

any of those fifty two weeks of the year. So somebody said, Well, what about the holidays? I'm like, Do you know how many people are sitting at their in-laws? No offense to anybody, but they're sitting at their in-laws during the holidays online, looking for the next opportunity because they're miserable with the one they're in right now and they're looking for a change for the upcoming year. So there's to me, you never stop developing your business and and anybody that you may change the way you develop your business, but just turning it off and saying, we'll get back to this after

after these selling s heightened selling seasons. I I don't personally subscribe to that.

Recruiting During Selling Season

Anthony Codispoti (35:15)

I mean, it can be difficult to do both at the same time if this is your busy selling season to also be out there recruiting. But I think what I hear you saying, Dave, is have a repeatable process in place so that maybe you're turning the tap down a little bit on the recruiting side as you're drinking from that fire hose of the selling side over here, but don't shut it off completely.

Dave (35:37)

Yeah, let's keep the conversations going. Let's let's let's have a conversation, a cup of coffee in January. You know, let's let's let's just let's let's keep going as opposed to your point. Just stop and then restart.

Anthony Codispoti (35:49)

What percentage of the business that Anchor does is um individual policies versus group policy?

Dave (35:55)

I would say it's predominantly on the individual side with a small percentage on the group side. We'd love to grow the group side as the organization matures, but today I'm I would t say it's probably ninety-five percent on the individual side.

Interviewing for Integrity

Anthony Codispoti (36:08)

Now, I know from today and from having talked before, a big part of your personality as well as the culture there at Anchor is built on integrity and performance. What is it that you're asking in an interview to find out if somebody has that aspect that you're looking for?

Dave (36:30)

Well, I think it's a it's an ongoing process. It's not a single conversation. So when you have the transparency of the initial conversation of who this is who Anchor is, this is what we do, this is who we are, this is how we do it, and all those things, the who what when we're house of Anchor, um, a lot of times we find people will detach from that, you know, if if it's not a good fit for them or you know, it like this is not a business in our view that is is um is good for part time people.

You know what I mean? Like it is it because it comes back down to, well, if you're doing these two jobs to pay the bills, how many appointments are you really going to be able to run every week, Anthony? To you t you tell me you need five sales a week, but you don't have the time to run but three appointments. So three appointments does not turn into five immediate sales, right? So I think that one of the things that we do again is just it and try and instead of trying to sell somebody into the opportunity.

what it is, what it is, and all those things that are so critically important. I think it's more just focused on uh the who, what, when, where's and hows. And then um sin so they get to they get to hear us uh explain that to them on

on us, right? Well we so all had also have the opportunity to hear from them on their background and what it is they're looking for. And our team is really sharp and we have some folks that have been in the industry for a long time. So when when we talk about anchor being going into its second full year of ex existence, you're talking with a lot of seasoned players that are a part

of and talent that are part of that. So it's not it I don't want people to get the wrong impression that the the talent pool here is only equates to the amount of time that that anchor has been in this space. Quite the con contrary, you know, it's it's got a great team of experienced people in the organization. But I think that's really the thing that we have to do. It's a very transparent um real relational, face to face conversation process that allows us to make sure they're a good fit for us and and is important that we're good fit for them.

Anthony Codispoti (38:30)

What does duplication mean?

Dave (38:33)

Now that's that when you get to the point where you can focus on duplication, that means they you know, your your recruiting model, your training module, your motivational model, your rewards model, all those things are there and you you never arrive in this business. Okay. So I I think this is not an industry or an agency or an agent where you just sit back and go, I'm just gonna hit cruise control now. And and you know, if you're if you want to be active in it, you're constantly growing and evolving with something for something, right? So I think that that's um that's one of the critical things.

about the organization that you just have to stay focused on, you know, what's what's out in front of you, what's next.

Anthony Codispoti (39:12)

Talk to me about a mentor who was really helpful in your early development, some things that they taught you, some takeaways.

Dave (39:20)

Well, uh it's a great question, man. I there's more than a few, but I thought when I got into this industry I went out and got licensed

And didn't tell anybody. Because my stepfather, who's really my father, he was in the industry, and I decided I was gonna give it a shot at you know, at at the ripe old age of 20. And honestly, Anthony, I thought, and I did, I went out and and and got my license, passed the test by two points, you know. I mean, went home. I was living in Clearwater Beach, Florida, went home to Atlanta, Georgia for Thanksgiving, told my dad, stepdad that, hey, I got my license. You know, he's like, All right, well, don't do anything with it till January because it it gets slow.

But we didn't have open enrollments back then, right? We had holidays. And so um so I was kind of excited, took a little break, spent time with family. But I honestly had and being an immature kid, right? I honestly had this thought and feeling that, well, the old man will take care of me, you know. Pops will take care of me. Pops did not take care of me. The first thing he did was give me a pitch book and presentation manual.

And some leads that were about three hour or three years old and about a couple hours away in Mount Dora, Florida. I lived again in Clearwater Beach, Florida, and said, go get And that was my training. Everything 100% adverse to what I've been saying and sharing with you today. Um, so that was it.

And you know, and high and I was like, what's the deal? You know, he's he's got the key to the lead leads cabinet, he's got the gold, you know. And uh I didn't understand it, honestly. And and now that I look back on it after all these years, he wanted to see whether I could work for myself. So my fur and I won't make this too long, but one of the first things I did, again, I lived in Clearwater Beach, Florida. I was a twenty year old man.

You know, as I lived on in the beach, I was like, this is paradise. I can't get any better. Well, I figured out really quick, I couldn't work in Clearwater Beach, Florida, because I would run one or two appointments and then go back to the beach, right? So I uh I started going back and this is way back in the day, I started traveling over to Sarasota, Florida every day. And I would stay over on that side of the bridge and I would work and I would run appointments and I did everything wrong, Anthony. I did everything wrong that you could possibly do. And then the lights started coming on.

And I was like, oh, you know, and people started taking the sale away from me. And, you know, so so my training experience would not at all fly in today's world. But but I figured out real early on. And a lot of the folks that I work with, I know they had very similar experiences. It was back in those days of hey, you got your license, go out and make something happen. And and I I'll wrap it up with saying this is that if I ever went to my dad to complain about anything, you know, the the leads or the product, it's too whatever.

He would always answer me in the same same way. Just go write another app. Go write another application. And so when you figured out that it didn't matter what you went to them with, uh him with.

uh you were gonna get the same answer. You quit asking the questions or you quit complaining and you just figured it out and went and did it. Now things are completely different now than they were back then. Uh back in those days we had one product to sell that was nationwide. The application was front and back and that was it. So with the evolvement of uh the the insurance space and the health insurance space over the course of time and decades, a lot of things have obviously changed. But uh

So as a mentor, I I think that the to answer your question, what he mentored me on was, I'm not gonna do it for you if you're not gonna do it for yourself. And once I figured that out, then it became really fun and it became easy. And and you didn't take it personally when somebody said no. You know, it was like you knew you had to get to the nos to get to the next yes.

Anthony Codispoti (42:59)

Was there something that helped you stop taking it personally? Because I think there's lots of people listening right now that have got sales experience. And that's the hardest thing is that rejection. I don't want to do sales. I don't I can't handle the rejection. What what helped

Dave (43:12)

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (43:13)

you get over

Dave (43:14)

The it I was blessed and born with a work ethic. So uh of all the things I'm not blessed with, what as as I was a child and grown and things that one of the skill sets I had as an individual, which I think is common for most people that

do really well in this industry. But I it wouldn't have mattered what I was doing as a J O B or what industry I might have been in. I had an incredible work ethic. And so I didn't take it personally um about getting nos. I just wanted to run enough I knew that I had to run a lot of appointments.

to to get to the results that I wanted to get to. And that and my threshold of of needs was not that high, you know, but I just knew, and you know, when you're a 20-year-old person, you think you've got all the answers in the world. And a couple decades go down the road you realize you didn't have all the answers. So but but that's that's what got me through the other side is that I was able to demonstrate to myself, more importantly to than to others that I had an incredible work ethic and I was willing to do whatever it t took to get the job done.

And and then um one last thought on this um from my chair is that I Sunday nights were horrible, you know, because I would be in bed on Sunday night with no idea. I mean, this is you go from hero to zero on a weekly basis, right? Or from zero to zero, or you can go from hero to hero. But Sunday nights was tough because be laying in bed trying to get some sleep before the next productive week and you had no idea what was gonna happen.

That next week. You know, you hope for the best, you work for the best, you do all those things. But in the early days when you're still building your inner confidence and all the things that you want to s to succeed and excel, uh, Sunday nights were scary. So so after time, and we we did I I sold and then we built the call centers and a lot of things, the agencies that you mentioned. And again, it this is not about me. This is very much a we conversation. But when we were building those entities or rebuilding them, whatever the case might be.

We started using the mindset of first of all, we'd been there and done it. We had been in the field. We hadn't been a bunch of people that had, you know, set back and said, Well, we're gonna start this business and we're gonna tell people what they should do and how to do it, but we never did it ourselves. So we knew what to do and what what not to do. We had some level of experience, but we built these organizations on what it was like to be in bed on Sunday night, not knowing what was gonna happen next week out there in the marketplace. And that that dovetails into the comments we talked about earlier where

You know, you really have to focus on your human talent as being your primary customer. You know, when you really if you really say it and you really do it, then you'll be thinking about that individual and their family. And when you make things good for them and it works for the organization, it works for them as individuals, as we've talked, you know, people plus performance equals profits, all that stuff will come. But I think one of the secret sauces, in my opinion, is um is what we've been talking about, is is just making sure that there's always a focus on

uh treating that agent and their families as their primary customer as long as they treat themselves as a primary their primary customer too. Because if we want them to go to work worse than they want to go to work, it's not gonna, it's not a good fit, you know, for the for for either side. So it's a balancing act for sure.

Anthony Codispoti (46:26)

So you talk about the importance of finding that inner confidence as you're getting your feet under you in the whole insurance sales process. Some folks never get to that point, though. Some folks get beat up by the rejection, they get chewed up, spit out, and they move on to something else. Do you have any advice for those folks who are still in that rough part of trying to find their inner confidence? Is it just

Dave (46:51)

Yeah, yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (46:52)

you you gotta get more swings, you gotta get more at bats?

Dave (46:55)

All that's true. Um, but I I think that one of the things that's common in in our industry, in our organization, is when somebody new comes on and they see Anthony and they go, Wow, he's the top performer, he's one of the top performers. I want to know what he does, right? Or what she does. And so they'll go and say, Anthony, tell me what you do, what you do. And Anthony will we'll share, you know, hey, this is what I do, this is how I do it.

What we have to help people understand is you need to ask Anthony, hey Anthony, what was the first three months like for you in this business? What was the first six months like for you in this business? I want to know, I want to know the boot camp side of it, right? Not not the you're a rock star now and you can, you know, you can close these opportunities with your eyes closed, kind of thing. That's all wonderful results and ROI from the efforts they made. So what I encourage people to do is don't don't only ask the the I don't care whether they're middle level performers or top performers.

don't you you absolutely ask them what they do now. You know, I'm a part of B and I, I do this, I do network, whatever it might be. Ask them about their first three months or first six months in the business and and how how how was it? I'm not gonna say how rough was it, but how was it? Was it easy for you? Was it rough? Was it tough? What did you ever think about throwing the towel in? And if anybody tells you no, that you're probably not getting good advice. Um

But it's still gonna come down to the same thing is it's gonna come down to Anthony, how many is how what's what is your income requirement for you and your family? Not what do you want it to be? We will get to that part. What do you need it to be today? Okay, let's translate that into the number of average solutions or sales that you uh need to create on a weekly basis.

compliantly and legitimately. And then and then that just translates that over to uh what your appointment inventory is. So it's going to keep coming down to that same basic. And and yours, you may have to run 20, I may have to run 25. You know, but but at least we're in the same area of what does your inventory need to look like? What do you have on the shelf to pull off so that you can make the income needs that you have for you and your family?

Excuse me.

Anthony Codispoti (48:57)

Yeah, we talked about mentors

and you mentioned your father, right? And he had a particular way of teaching you sort of the old school school of hard knocks kind of approach.

Dave (49:09)

Correct.

Anthony Codispoti (49:10)

And you know, I think one of the great things about mentors is not only do they teach us things that we should be doing, the ways that we should be doing them, oftentimes they're teaching us or inspiring us on ways not to do things, right? You

learned some things, you developed a thick skin through the process that your stepfather, your father put you through. Um, but then I can see that you took a very different approach as you started to recruit and train agents. And I wonder how much of that came from the inspiration of I don't want to put somebody else through this.

Dave (49:46)

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I I kinda go back from the standpoint of there was no in the early days for an individual like me, there was no there was no support. So you kinda had to come up with your own your own protocols, right? So a lot of the things I did were things that people would tell you today, absolutely don't do And I would tend to agree with them. But back then, it was I just wanted to get in front of people and I wanted to share with them what I did and you know what

we provided and all those kinds of different things. And I couldn't do that if I was this is before cell phones, man. This was back dropping quarters at the mall trying to set appointments. I wanted to be in front of people. I didn't, you know, nobody was going to drive down my street and go, I wonder if anybody on the eighth floor of that condo sells health insurance, you know? It doesn't it doesn't work that way. So I was really good about going, I got to get out there. I got to get in front of people. So I think that um everybody's a little bit different. And there's a phrase in in the industry called uh analysis paralysis. You don't

You know, when people say, Well, I have to learn everything I possibly can, and then I'll go out and take care of myself and the and the consumers in the American marketplace, that's a recipe for disaster. You'll never get out in the field, if you will, right? Because there's always something to learn. There's always something new, there's always something coming down the pipe. So yes, you want people to be educated, you want people to be compliant. I think um without getting off track, I think one of the things that people don't there's a lot of credibility.

And saying, hey, Anthony, I don't know, but I'll find out for you. You know what I mean? Instead of saying, Well, I think Anthony wants me to say this, this, this, and we go down that rabbit hole, there's so much credibility that can be built on the on the phrase or the legitimate answer, I don't know, but I'll find out for you. So I think there's some things that have definitely changed drastically over the course of time, but some things haven't. And and at the end of the day, because Anchor is a relational selling organization.

You're having these interactions, whether it be via computer, via face-to-face and networking events, whatnot, but you're having these conversations. And, you know, like I said before, sales is something you do for someone, not to someone. And and uh prospects buy for their reasons, not yours. And, you know, those are the kinds of things that are just philosophies. But if you tuck them up here and you keep them in here, then you're gonna come out with a lot more wins than losses.

Anthony Codispoti (52:02)

What does it look like today for folks to go out there and find their own leads? And I I know that there's some support from Anchor as well, but you know, some folks they're people per people, they want to be out there. They wanna be, you know, finding folks at the time or the the moment where they're likely to be in need. What does that look like?

Dave (52:22)

It it's a it's a never ending um progression of opportunities, right? So I kid around and say, you know, I'm never gonna I'm never gonna dunk a basketball at five, I'm five eight. I'm never gonna dunk a basketball. Sha Shaquille O'Neal's never gonna be a jockey, right? So it's it's like there's these th these realities with us. And I think for individuals, I come back to the same thing and it's like, well, what will you, you know, whether it's 40 hours a week or sixty hours a week, maybe even more in the early stages.

What are you willing to do for you that will allow you to achieve the the uh outcomes that you want? So so again, we touched on this a little bit, but if there are certain things or marketing activities uh that you just don't align with, whatever it may be, you know, knocking door to door or visiting with people in the grocery, whatever it is, if you don't align with it or you're not comfortable with it, scratch it. Don't do it.

But find the things that you do feel comfortable with and that you know can provide you results because the the quantitative side, I mean so the qualitative quantitative and qualitative side of what you're doing, you know that you've got enough activity going on that you're gonna have opportunities. And then you do a very quality qualitative approach on earning those opportunities into a solution or into a sale. So I I think it's it really is the same, but it's different for people because it we need to figure out.

What is the proper prescription for your diagnosis so that you can be productive in the marketplace? And what we might have to do for you, Anthony, may be completely different than what we have to do for Dave. And it's our role as leaders to help them determine what that is, not tell them what it is.

Anthony Codispoti (53:56)

That's great. Discovery process um together as a team. You know, the mentors are

Dave (53:58)

Yeah. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (54:02)

a great way to learn very powerful, very helpful lessons through life. Another approach to learning hard things is going through hard things.

Uh what's one of the toughest things that you've had to overcome and what did going through that teach you day?

Walking Away From Seven Figures

Dave (54:20)

Uh this there's there's more than one, but this would be the big one. Uh in two thousand and four, yeah, early mid two thousand and four, uh and I don't say this egotistically or arrogantly at all, uh, but I had the opportunity to walk away from a seven-figure income. And the reason I walked away from that seven-figure income is because I wasn't willing to uh compromise character for cash flow.

And it's a longer story than we have time for today. But we had done some amazing things on the agency that you talked about uh back in 89 through the last full year being 2003. And just for the listeners, we we we had some incredible sales years, we really did as a team. And when things changed, we had about 1.5 billion in Enforced business. So so it's something that built on every year. Well, like in any organization, there were some changes made. And uh

And I was very used in in to change. I embraced change. I like change personally. I think it's what helps organizations grow. But you can't do a good deal with a bad person. And so there were some changes made in our organization. And I the chairman and others had the right to make these changes. Um, but they didn't align philosophically and and honestly, forget the income side of it. If I had stayed aboard,

I would have been a genuine hypocrite to the culture that we had been building. Right. So again, that's one of the things I really like about the anchor opportunity, and I'll go back to that in a minute, is that w they these folks are so committed from top to the to the new person coming on board. They're so committed to doing it the right way and for the long term and and making sure that everybody wins, not just one side wins. That's one of the reasons I am so passionate about what the folks are doing at Anchor, and I'll be an ambassador ambassadors of theirs for life. But um, you know, when

change happens at that level, yeah, it's a tough one, you know. And uh and so I uh I was blessed that, you know, that I had some, you know, staying power, if you will. Uh, but I share this with the listeners only to say that you will there you will have opportunities to be at a crossroads of a tough decision. It happens to all of us for one reason or another. This was one of my this this was my biggest one. And I wasn't willing to

to compromise character for cash flow and stay on, knowing that it was not a good fit for the culture that we built. It was not a good fit for me as an individual of the culture that we built. And so I chose to, I chose to, to, to, to walk away, move on. ah But because of Zig Ziglar being put into my life back in 2002, uh, you know, I went from a seven figure a year income, which was wonderful. Don't get me wrong. I love it.

It was significant wealth, right? And hopefully we were being a wealth of significance in the process. But then literally within a month or so went to work for Zig Ziglar, making the lowest six-figure income that an individual could make. So that'll tell you what that number was.

And I loved every second of it. And I cherished the years that I had uh when Zig was with us and you know, the time that I still have with Tom now. But it was also what they were doing. Uh and you know, I don't want to bore the listeners today, but uh when when I got out of high school, my twin brother and I graduated high school, we both had opportunity like everybody else. Our opportunity was to go to work, right? So we didn't have in our household we didn't have the opportunity to go off to college and and

either make it or or be home the first semester, you know, because we had too much fun. So when this season came, um, that I was blessed enough to be able to work with Zig personally and we did some really cool things together. We raised $800,000 for an organization called the World Children's Center that kept orphaned siblings together. I mean really meaningful stuff. Um

The reason I'm sharing this with the listeners is that was the formal education that I was not able to get as a young man, that I was able to get later in life, and I'm absolutely blessed that it happened, cherished. And then as we talk about change, um, you and I have talked about this before. I will caution the the listeners and individuals that get in this industry. Um, when I left the industry, I I was licensed in every state in the country, which you and I have talked about before. And I let all those licenses go uh because I thought I was gonna a new path, a new journey with

Mr. Ziglar and that team and things we were doing there that was a lot of fun. And then change happens, right? And boom, right back into some really cool opportunities in the insurance space. So I had to reset for those uh that resident home license exam and then get, you know, re uh resident, non-resident license in the rest of the country. So I'm just telling you as

as a friend in the industry, don't ever let your licenses go. It it was painful and expensive. So I I as you said the front end of the call today, I am currently licensed in all fifty states, but if you go up that road and you think that you're never gonna need you probably will. Uh so don't don't sell yourself short for sure.

Anthony Codispoti (59:27)

Easier to renew them than to let them lapse and have to go get them again. Yeah.

Dave (59:29)

my gosh, yes. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (59:32)

You know, uh, so you walk away from this seven figure job because there were things going on there that did not align with your personal values. I wonder how long did that decision take to make? Was there a real back and forth struggle going on internally, or was it immediately, I know what I need to do?

Dave (59:53)

Uh wonderful question. You and I have never spoke about this before. I think intuitively I knew right away. Uh, but it was extremely difficult, not because of the money. I mean, money's part of it, but that wasn't that wasn't the hard part. It was the people. And we had we had uh come to know so many people. We all had children raised together, the di different seasons of life. It was walking away from people that had been an important part.

of um my life and a collective life of teammates for a long, long time. And so I don't remember exactly how long it was, but um we were about as an organization, we were about to renew a contract with the Zig Ziglar Corporation for about $350,000 at the time. And there was the one guy on my shoulder saying, sign it, sign it. And the other one was like, don't, don't, you know. And Zig and team never asked about that contract renewal. Never said, well you're gonna you're gonna make sure we're okay, right? And none of that none of that ever happened.

um never came up once, Anthony. And so so I was with Zig and at this particular time uh Zig was mentoring me and I was leaning on him heavy on, you know, what to do, what to do. And and I may not get this exactly one hundred percent right, but I think it was Romans ten, ten. He said to me one day, he's like, you know, he he he loved to share scripture, but he said to me,

Uh, I think it was Romans ten, ten, they You know if you're aware of sin and you don't do anything about it, you're as guilty as the sin itself at some point. And that was the moment I went, I'm done.

And and did all the things the right way. And, you know, I I I'm no angel. I'm not a perfect indiv individual or anything, but I did everything the right way. And like I said earlier, within a within a few days I was working on his team and some of the best memories I have, I have and I have I'm blessed with so many great, great memories over the course of time, but were those years uh with Zig as being a customer and with Zig as being on their team and

It's been a great ride. So I think what is happening here at Anchor and the things that are being done at Anchor as an organization, for me as an individual, it it's a it's really kind of being able to be a part of something very similar to what had been done in the past, updated it to current times, but with all the same philosophical, you know, desires, wants and needs that are there from an organizational standpoint to offer to individuals and families out there in the marketplace.

as advisors as or as well as consumers from those advisors that can kind of bring those two seasons together for me. that, you know, this great agency time, this great Ziglar time, and let's go let's do it. Let's do it again. So Anchor is is just a wonderful organization. I love the commitment by the organization and the individuals that are part of it.

And um I I I really, really enjoy being a part of it. And one of the things I'll say about this organization for people that are listening is that d there there's not a there's not ladder climbing in this organization. Our our team and the individuals on our team, we're it's a true team. So there's not somebody that, hey, I'm trying to out nudge Anthony so I can get a little bit higher up in the hierarchy and and he can go a little farther. It it it we're really not like that. It it's a

Hey, here's what Anthony does really well. So get out of his way and let him do it. Here's what Dave does really well. Let him run lead on those areas. You know, this is the areas that Madison does really well at. She's the lead. That's that's the kind of environment that we have here. And I think that's kind of unique in today's world because a lot of stuff that's out there, not saying it's bad, but it still has that corporate, you know, uh dog eat dog, whatever the right words are, kind of environment. And we are absolutely 100% not that.

environment. Yeah,

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:37)

Yeah.

Dave (1:03:38)

we we we've started and you you have growing pains like any other organization where you you have things that a line up and they go really well. You have things that come up and you have to make decisions to to create change to get better. So all that stuff's not, you know, we're not you know we're not immune to that stuff, but I think because of our experience and because of the leadership that we have as a collective group, we're able to get through good times or adverse times and still stay mission focused on what needs to occur.

Anthony Codispoti (1:04:06)

So Dave, as you think about the work that you're doing now, what is it that you would most like to be remembered?

Dave (1:04:12)

Um, from a legacy standpoint, I think for me as an individual, it would just be having been a small part of somebody's Sunday nights being better. You know what I mean? Like it's like it's like I will never forget that feeling. And as I said earlier, we carried that onto our business decisions and the the way that we ran and built our businesses was to keep in mind always what it was like out there for individuals and families that were just getting started or they're well well established. But from a legacy standpoint, you know, it just just

being somebody that helped other people get from wherever it is they are to wherever it is they wanted to go be good enough for me.

Anthony Codispoti (1:04:49)

David, before I ask my last question for you, I want to do three quick things for the audience. First of all, if you want to get in touch with David Wayne Keeler from Anchor Benefits, go to their website, anchorbenefitadvisors.com. It'll be in the show notes, but it's three simple words, easy to remember, easy to spell, anchorbenefitadvisors.com. Also, if you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to subscribe wherever you're listening.

See, it also sends a signal that helps others discover our podcast. So thank you for taking a quick moment to do that. And a reminder for insurance brokers you can walk into your next client meeting with something better than a rate increase, a program that gives more of your clients' employees access to doctors, therapists, and prescriptions, part-timers included, and it adds thousands of dollars to the company's bottom line every month.

It's backed by Bain Capital Insurance, so it's built to last. Bring your clients that kind of win, and they'll refer their friends to you at backbenefits.com. So, last question for you, Dave. A year from now, what is one very specific thing that you hope to be celebrating?

Dave (1:06:00)

I would say uh immediately comes to mind is the success of new area sales leaders to our team, whether it be five, whether it be ten, whatever the right number is that's out in front of us, it will be it will be the organic, genuine, integrity driven growth of our sales and distribution representation out in the marketplaces.

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:22)

I love that. Dave Wayne Keeler from Anchor Benefit Advisors, I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate you being here.

Dave (1:06:31)

Thank you as well, Anthony. I appreciate the time.

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:33)

Hey folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories Podcast. Thanks for learning with us. And if one thing stood out, put that into action today.

Connect with David Keeler:

Website: anchorbenefitadvisors.com